Looking for a tent for this year's burn. While the Springbar and Kodiak tents appear to be the "gold standard" for playa tents, I'm not sure about spending $500.00+ for a tent that is only going to be used once a year. The Coleman Instant Cabin 6 looks like a possible lower cost alternative to the Springbar and Kodiak. It has an external frame, screened windows that can be zippered shut, and one roof vent that could be sewn or velcro closed. Any thoughts?

If you can get a look at it online or in person you can tell if it'll work. External poles or fiberglass poles with a place to attach ropes or straps. Peg it down securely and rope it on each side to rebar or lags. You'll be fine. Maybe. My tent is a few years old. I replaced the fiberglass rods when they got so split that I couldn't tape em back together. I miss my cotton tent that was a bugger to set up. It had real poles.

My camp mate can't attach ropes to her tent poles. The external fiberglass poles are all in sleeves. She sets it up between the shade structure and a vehicle. She ropes the tabs provided on the outside of the tent to the shade and 2 wheels of the vehicle. It's worked fine for 4 or 5 years.

A quick google of 'setting up tents in the wind' will give you some food for thought.

Last edited by Ratty on Sat Feb 10, 2018 10:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Pictures or it didn't happen GreycoyoteI a recovering swagaholic I have to resist my grabby nature VultureChowThose aren't buttermilk biscuits I'm lying on SavannahWe're out there to play like adults with no adult supervision CaptG

Hard to know. Coleman has made some great playa tents, I've used one Coleman model (which I won't name as the newest version is insanely bad for the playa) for 17 burns. HOWEVER, the poles were steel and strong. The poles in the model you mention, especially the upper ones, look like some I've seen in kites. Try to imagine the playa wind hitting the front of that tent at 40mph, to be conservative of what one can expect out there. How would it bend? Would those guy lines help or hinder it's flexibility? No way to know. If you go with that, be sure to buy extra legs on the Coleman site.

BINGO!If you are absolutely sure you can get two cars, or better yet, vans, on both sides of the tent, you got it made.Toss a tarp over the vans, tie the tarp lines (get 100' roll of paracord) to the wheels of the vans, and you have an A-1 virgin burner setup

Leo, take the time to set up your tent, pin some nylon fabric over the vent and sew it in place on a sewing machine. Then cut off the extra fabric. You won't regret it. don't bother with glue or velcro. Been there....

Pictures or it didn't happen GreycoyoteI a recovering swagaholic I have to resist my grabby nature VultureChowThose aren't buttermilk biscuits I'm lying on SavannahWe're out there to play like adults with no adult supervision CaptG

There is a Velco product, "Fusion," in fabric stores, amazon,,,,, they change the name around depending on the vendor...just look for the brand name Velcro and "heat" to be on the same packaging.

You iron it on.I've sealed my tent windows (on the inside) with it and it's held up for at least 6 burns.I know, I can't believe it myself.

Make your nylon super clean, put the iron on hot (see instructions...make a test, also) use a buffer material so glue coming out the sides doesn't mess up the iron, press the iron hard for a time you have to figure out yourself...probably 10 seconds. Obviously, don't test the bond immediately. If it isn't bonded once it cools down, you didn't melt the glue. You'll get the hang of it soon.

BUT, I wouldn't suggest in unjoining the vent covering from the tent out on the playa, as there will be a lot of dust accumulated falling into the tent.

Looks like I came to this thread too late... but for others who might read or search, I have a Coleman Instant Cabin and I love it for the burn. I set it up with my car as a partial shade/windbreak, stake it down with heavy duty aluminum tent pegs, put a piece of 14x20 aluminet over it, and tie that down with paracord through the grommets and bent rebar. I have put it up by myself in under 5 minutes in the dark and in the wind, and that in itself was a huge selling point for me. And it's lightweight and easy for me to clean by hosing it down in my backyard.

The signal mountain instant 6 worked perfectly for us. No mesh. And coleman claims it can hold 60mph winds.Together with a monkey hut facing east/west I could take a nap during daytime this hot Burn.Filled with gear and tighted to the rebar of the monkeyhut the tent goes nowhere

Ditto. Coleman Instant 6 inside the Monkey Hut was fine. There is one small patch of mesh directly across from the entry door which couldn't be zipped closed, so it was hot glued closed. Otherwise great. One burn down and coming back in '18.

I use the Instant 4 dome tent for normal camping and for a quick tent to use on the first and/or last nights at the burn, when all the heavy duty setup is packed away. They take up very little space and are some form of shelter, you can pitch it and be sleeping within 5 minutes. I wouldn't leave it set up in camp all week though.

In doing research on tents, I checked out the reviews on the Amazon and Cabela's website. It appears that the quality control of Coleman tents is random at best. Some folks swear by them while others swear at them. Considering a tent will be my home for 8 days in the extreme environment of the playa, I figured that it wasn't worth the risk of saving a few bucks on a tent, only to have a failure due to a snapped fiberglass pole or a hub connection break. I ended up buying a Kodiak tent and figure that the price difference is cheap insurance.

DeGracht, cranberries, and claybcook,Glad to hear that Coleman tents have worked for all of you. I was fortunate to find the Kodiak 10' x 10' on sale at Cabelas, so that was the tipping point. Now I need to figure out a shade structure for this monster. Thanks everyone for your feedback.